


Hydra's Avenger

by SuperEllen



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I really have no idea where I'm going with this, I'm open to suggestions and headcanons, M/M, Memory Loss, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Mind Manipulation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Steve Rogers, Rating May Change, it will leave canon from there, set during Avengers, spoilers for other MCU movies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-24 13:53:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8374570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperEllen/pseuds/SuperEllen
Summary: “All of our systems have been breached. Someone’s running an unauthorized override of our security codes.” Hill’s voice seems on the verge of panic.Hearing these words, Nick Fury can only run faster, and by the time Agent Hill is done talking, he’s entering the control room. He joins the young woman, looking at the closest monitor. That’s when a message appears, with the emblem of Hydra in the background. His blood freezes in his veins while he starts reading the message.
  This time we are not enemies

  This time, against an enemy from outer space,

  S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA will fight together as HUMANS

  We stopped the Council from blowing up New York

  We already sent there one of our own, our best Asset

  Our valuable addition to your Avengers
 ***Or: the Winter Soldier joins the fight in New York City and Steve’s life goes to shit.





	1. Truce

**Author's Note:**

> So, as I also said in the tags... I have no idea where I'm going with this. I already have a couple of chapters ready, so I'll just keep writing and see what happens.  
> You can always feel free to give me your headcanons and to let me know your ideas about how this should go on. And of course any feedback will be appreciated.  
> I don't know how long it will take me to update, though, so sometimes it might take quite a while. But don't worry, I'm going to finish this, even if it takes me forever!
> 
> This work is unbetaed, so any mistake is all mine. (looking for a beta though, contact me if you're interested)  
> Also, English is not my first language, so please be patient.
> 
> This chapter is shamefully short, but I actually consider it more like a prologue than a real chapter. So don't worry, the following chapters will be longer than this.
> 
> If you need to contact me, you can find me on [tumblr](http://superellencaulfield.tumblr.com/).

Director Fury is out of his mind with rage. The Council is talking about deploying a nuclear attack on New York City, blowing up the entire city. That will end up in millions of civilian casualties, in addition to eliminating one of the greatest symbols of the United States. It can’t be possible, they can’t be serious. But the more he tries to convince them that they’re talking nonsense, the more they accuse him of not thinking straight. But Fury is actually thinking more than they are. He has a plan, a plan he strongly believes in. He believes in the Avengers, and in the fact that they’re going to save the world from aliens.

Aliens… He still doesn’t understand how things have progressed so much that Earth got attacked by an army of Aliens. Chitauri, they were called by Thor, the God coming himself from another planet. It was easier when S.H.I.E.L.D.’s only purpose was to fight Hydra and similar menaces that might appear in the future. But Hydra is dead, has been for a long time, and everything that came after wasn’t too difficult to destroy. Not with real superheroes on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s side. But aliens? That’s probably too much, even for those superheroes.

But Fury believes in them. He believes in the Avengers, and in what they can do to save the day. For years, now, they’ve fought their individual battles and they’ve always come out on top. And now that they’re fighting together, they can only get stronger. The planet is in good hands, this is what Director Fury thinks while he rushes towards the outside deck of the helicarrier, a rocket launcher in his hands. He won’t allow _any_ unauthorized departure from that fortress, not while he is in charge!

He takes down the rogue bird, but he doesn’t even have the time to recharge the rocket launcher when he sees a second one take flight undisturbed. Shit, this is going bad! He’s about to contact Stark, to let him know about what’s happening, when an unidentified aircraft enters his field of vision. The small jet is quick, and it opens fire against the aircraft transporting the nuke. Fire damages the propulsion, and the aircraft quickly plummets into the ocean below. Only then Fury can start to breathe again. Strange, he didn’t even notice he was holding is breath.

“Hill, do you copy?” he says, trying to communicate with the control room.

“Copy, sir. A third unauthorized aircraft is trying to leave.” she replies.

Fury barely has the time to turn his head to look at what’s happening, and the third aircraft is already sinking in the ocean. Thanks again to the unidentified jet now hovering over the helicarrier. It’s difficult to understand if that’s friend or foe, but one thing is certain: it saved New York! He wonders if whoever is in that jet is aware of what they’re doing.

“Hill, brief me. Who’s our guardian angel?” he asks again, looking around to see if any more of their birds are trying to fly away from the nest. It seems they stopped, and the unidentified jet starts to get some distance.

“No idea, sir.” Hill replies, and then she goes silent for a long time. Fury can hear shouting on the other end of the line, so he hurries back to the control room.

“Talk to me, Hill. What’s happening?” he asks, and in the meantime he runs as fast as he can towards the room where he’s most needed.

“All of our systems have been breached. Someone’s running an unauthorized override of our security codes.” Hill’s voice seems on the verge of panic.

Hearing these words, Nick Fury can only run faster, and by the time Agent Hill is done talking, he’s entering the control room. He joins the young woman, looking at the closest monitor. That’s when a message appears, with the emblem of Hydra in the background. His blood freezes in his veins while he starts reading the message.

_This time we are not enemies_

_This time, against an enemy from outer space,_

_S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA will fight together as HUMANS_

_We stopped the Council from blowing up New York_

_We already sent there one of our own, our best Asset_

_Our valuable addition to your Avengers_

The same message appears simultaneously on every monitor aboard the helicarrier. It takes a few seconds for its true meaning to sink in, then panic starts to spread. Fury himself balls his fists with anger and punches a table, throwing several pieces of expensive equipment to the ground. Hydra is supposed to be dead. The last anyone heard of it was when Captain America crashed Red Skull’s aircraft into the ice! So this revelation is not good. Hydra is still alive and well, and it’s still ready to fight at any moment.

In this precise situation, however, it seems like Hydra doesn’t want to go against S.H.I.E.L.D. but help it. Can they be trusted? No, sure they can’t. But maybe, _just maybe_ , they can work together for today. At least, Hydra seems interested in taking down the aliens as much as S.H.I.E.L.D. is. The organization’s motives, however, are certainly not noble. Fury can understand this much just by reading the message they received. To unite as ‘humans’ against the enemies from outer space? Bullshit! The only reason why Hydra wants to cooperate is because they fear they won’t be able to carry on their plans, if the invasion is successful.

This means two important things. One, Hydra is strong, confident in its capabilities of going against S.H.I.E.L.D., to the point that Fury fears the moment they’ll resume fighting each other. Two, notwithstanding its strength, Hydra needs S.H.I.E.L.D.’s help in order to defeat these aliens, meaning that Loki’s army might be more difficult to destroy than anticipated.

This is not going to end well. As soon as Loki is defeated, Fury is sure that Hydra will betray them and take advantage of their weakened state in order to strike. Can they survive the attack? Yes, they just need to be prepared. And they will be, that’s for sure.

It’s with malice that Fury sneers towards the closest monitor. Then he grabs a keyboard and he starts typing. He knows very well that Hydra will get his message, since they’re already inside the system.

_A truce then_

_Bring it on!_


	2. To battle

Things are not going so well for the Avengers. They’re mostly following Steve’s orders, or at least they were in the beginning. Now there’s chaos everywhere, and each and every Avenger is just fighting. They’re all doing their best, but how can their best be enough in a situation like this? And that’s exactly when Tony Stark receives a private communication from Nick Fury directly inside his Iron Man suit. Considering the way Fury is using to communicate with him, he either has news that the other Avengers don’t need to know or he’s about to tell something that most of the Avengers will not be able to tolerate.

“Hey, what’s up? I’d love to chat, but I’m in the middle of something here.” Tony replies to the communication.

“Stop joking, Stark. This is important. I need to tell you something, and you have to find a way to report the news to the others.” Fury waits a second for Tony to consent, then he starts talking again “Hydra is not as dead as we thought. And today they wish to join the fight in New York… on our side. They sent in their best asset, or so they said. It might be a machine, a soldier or an enhanced individual, I have no clue. I want you to find a way to include that asset in your fight, it might be useful, but be careful not to trust it. It will probably turn on you and try to kill you all as soon as the battle is over.”

There is a moment of silence in the communication, in which Tony flies over a group of enemies and turns them to ashes. Only when he’s certain that the perimeter is secured, Iron Man flies high again and resumes talking.

“Wow, we’re breaking bread with Hydra… Cap will be _thrilled_ to hear that he spent 70 years in the ice just to witness this day!” as usual, Tony uses his sarcastic tone to express what he’s feeling. He just can’t help it, that’s part of who he is.

“Do you seriously think that we have any other options?” Fury asks, and this time his words are enough to silence even Tony Stark.

“No, I don’t think we have other options. That’s what scares me the most.” Stark admits, serious for once.

A few more moments of silence, in which Iron Man faces and destroys some more enemies, before the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. talks again. “Will you tell the others, then?”

“Yes, yes, I’ll tell them.” Tony replies, a little annoyed “But you should stop asking these huge favors of me. Really. One day I might think of collecting what you owe me.”

And with these words, the conversation is over. Iron Man goes back to the fight, while the man inside the suit of armor tries to think of the best way to let the Avengers know that Hydra is still alive and kicking, and ready to help them in the fight. He’s worried about how exactly Captain Rogers is going to take that. It’s not something people would like to hear in general, but when it comes to Steve it’s even worse. He _died_ to stop those people, for Christ’s sake!

So Tony has to take a couple of long breaths before opening communications with the rest of the team.

“Hey guys, I have new vital information that I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear.” he says.

“What’s worse than an alien invasion? More monsters?” Natasha asks.

“Well, sort of…” is Tony’s reply.

“Can you please be less cryptic?” is Clint’s turn to ask.

“The thing is… God, Cap is _not_ going to like this!” Stark tries to start again.

“Try me.” Captain America says.

Iron Man sighs heavily before talking again. “I received a communication from Nick Fury. Hydra is not dead, and they sent some _asset_ here to help us fight back Loki’s army. I don’t know if it’s actually a person or some kind of weapon, but something is coming here to fight on our side.”

There’s silence on the line, the only thing that’s audible is the sound of continuous fighting.

“But I figured out how to stop this! Dr. Selvig told me how to close the portal, and I’m on my way to retrieve Loki’s scepter right now. With that I can put an end to this invasion.” Black Widow affirms.

“Then do it Natasha. We can’t waste another moment, since we now have Hydra to fight too!” Steve commands.

“Wait, didn’t the metal man say that this Hydra is fighting on our side?” Thor asks, since he actually doesn’t know anything about Hydra, what it is and what it does.

“Like hell they are! Pretty sure they want to stop us too.” Cap says, frustration in his voice.

“That’s exactly Fury’s concern. So keep your eyes open, because this Hydra asset is going to be on our side until the last of the Chitauri is dead, and not a moment longer.” Tony puts an end to the conversation.

* * *

Natasha is about to reach Loki’s scepter when something goes really wrong. A few enemies are coming for her from above, but before she can get ready to fight them they’re already dead. There’s an aircraft not too far from there, and that aircraft just shot down the enemies, along with a small portion of the balcony Nat is on. She takes her eyes off the aircraft for a moment, lowering her gaze towards the scepter. And then she freezes: the scepter is not there anymore. It was on the portion of the balcony that got blown away.

“I don’t get paid enough for this…” she whispers in Russian, talking to herself.

Black Widow turns around a few times, but she still can’t see the scepter anywhere. The aircraft is now far, getting further, towards the area where she knows that some of the other Avengers are fighting in the streets. Then she moves her gaze up to Erik Selvig.

“Have you seen where the scepter went?” she yells, but the man just shakes his head in reply. Definitely not her lucky day!

“Guys, we have a problem.” she starts communications with the Avengers again “There’s an unidentified aircraft flying around. Might be the Hydra asset Stark was talking about. But destroying some of the enemies it blew Loki’s scepter away. It might take longer than anticipated to close the portal, since now I have to look for the scepter!”

“I’ll come and help!” Clint offers immediately, and Natasha can’t stop herself from smiling. Everything is easier with her best friend by her side.

* * *

“Do you really think we should be watching our backs from this ‘asset’ that was sent to help us?” Thor asks while hitting an enemy hard on the chin with his hammer. The enemy, unconscious, flies away and hits the ground right in front of Steve.

“You don’t know Hydra, you don’t know what they’re capable of. I’m worried.” Captain America replies, hitting another enemy with his shield and sending it right towards the Asgardian.

How can he explain to Thor what Hydra is? During the war he crashed a plane in the ice in order to stop them, and when he woke up 70 years later S.H.I.E.L.D. told him that he’d been successful. Since the moment he woke up from the ice, he’d been thinking that his sacrifice had meant something. He lost his entire life, a lot of opportunities, but at least he saved the world, because Hydra was no more.

And now, in the middle of a war against _aliens_ , he finds out that it was just a lie. Hydra survived the death of the Red Skull, and not even S.H.I.E.L.D. has been able to detect its presence all these years. It makes the enemy too dangerous.

All of these thoughts, however, are inappropriate on the field of battle. They’re distracting, so distracting that Steve doesn’t realize that one of the enemies is easily getting too close to him. He receives a violent hit in the stomach, and because of that he stumbles on the floor. Immediately Thor hits a car with his hammer to send it against a group of enemies, making them take a few steps back. Then the Asgardian walks towards Captain America and offers him a hand to help him stand.

“You okay?” Thor asks, concerned.

“Been better. Too distracted to fight.” Steve admits, even if he’s not so happy about it.

The moment he finishes talking, another group of Chitauri arrives. The two Avengers are highly outnumbered. In normal conditions that shouldn’t be a problem, but in that precise moment it is. Steve still can’t fight at 100%, because he’s too worried about this intromission of Hydra. Plus he’s wounded, and even if he heals way faster than normal people, it will still take some time to recover after a blow like that one.

And that’s when something unexpected happens. An aircraft appears above them, shooting at the Chitauri; it’s obviously the same one Natasha mentioned. It kills some of the enemies, but then it gets shot down. Before it can crash to the ground, someone jumps out and rolls on the ground. When the person stops, left fist and knee on the asphalt as well as the right foot, it’s possible to see that it’s a man, or at least he once was. He has shoulder-long brown hair, entirely black clothes, several weapons and what looks like a metal arm.

Steve can’t say what’s happening to him, but there is something he can’t explain that makes him keep staring at the man’s back. He doesn’t approach, he doesn’t talk. He just stays there, looking at the ally/enemy while he stands up from the ground and takes a rifle that was hanging over his shoulders, ready to attack the Chitauri. It’s Thor who approaches him.

“Are you the asset Hydra sent to help us?” the Asgardian prince asks.

“Ready to comply.” the man says in Russian, turning to look at Thor in the eyes. Cap’s knowledge of Russian is little and rusty, but he still recognizes what language that man is speaking.

That’s when Steve can finally see the man’s face. It takes a second before he realizes what’s actually happening. His entire world shatters into pieces in front of his eyes, destroying everything he ever believed was true. Because he _knows_ that man, how could he not? He spent his entire life looking at that face, admiring that person more than anyone on Earth. But he was _dead_ , he died before his eyes in 1944, falling off a train. Steve will never forget that moment for the rest of his life, the moment his best friend was lost forever. But still, that man is right in front of his eyes, 70 years later, working for Hydra.

“Bucky?” is all that Captain America can say.

Bucky’s eyes are cold, without expression. He looks more like a machine than his old self. Maybe he’s not real, maybe he’s some kind of robot with his childhood best friend’s face, created by Hydra just to mess with his mind. Because Bucky would always recognize him, and the man in front of his eyes is now looking at him in a way that’s killing Steve inside. Bucky is looking at him like he has no idea who Steve is.

But there is no time to waste like this, not during an alien invasion. Loki’s army is powerful and doesn’t stop the attack for a second, so they all have to resume the battle. Thor is the first to launch forward, followed by the man who seems to be Bucky. Captain Rogers is the last one to jump back into the fight, his head still spinning a little too much because of the big revelation, his heart beating way too quickly.

_Bucky… Bucky… Bucky!_

That’s all Steve can think about during the battle. He can see how easily his old friend fights off the enemies, how precisely he hits them every time he opens fire. And when they get too close, he can see how effortlessly he punches them with the metal arm, sending them flying. He’s strong, way stronger than Bucky has ever been during the war. What happened to him? What happened after he fell off the train? What have they done to him during the last 70 years?

Cap knows better than anyone that Hydra’s soldier is going to be their enemy as soon as the aliens are defeated, so he understands that he should be using the time they’re fighting side by side to devise a strategy to face him. But the truth is that he can’t. How can he ever fight against Bucky? How can he ever hurt someone he cares about so much?

“Hey guys, any news about Hydra’s toy?” Tony suddenly asks to the Avengers, making Steve jump as soon as he hears the voice.

“He’s here with me and Thor.” Captain America replies, without adding any more details about _who_ exactly this person is.

“He? You say ‘he’ as in ‘it’s a man’?” Stark asks again.

“Yes, a man with a metal arm who speaks a language I don’t understand.” this time is Thor to give the answer.

“Russian. He speaks Russian.” Steve adds, but he still doesn’t say a word about recognizing who he is.

“No, no, no! Steve, Thor, as soon as the enemies are down, get as far away from him as possible. Russian, metal arm, that would be the Winter Soldier: the fiercest warrior anyone has ever seen!” Black Widow intervenes in the conversation.

“The Winter Soldier? Nat, you told me he was a myth!” Barton protests, evidently offended because he’s been lied at.

“Well, I lied. The Winter Soldier has been credited with dozens of assassinations during the last 50 years. Most people think he’s just a ghost story. But I met him a few years ago, and let me tell you that the result almost got me killed.” Natasha explains, and silence follows her words.

Now Steve is more scared than ever. A time span of 50 years means that the Winter Soldier is old, yet the man in front of him is in his late twenties. Plus, the more he sees this Winter Soldier move, the more he can see Bucky behind that cold efficiency. That killer is his best friend, he’s certain about that. But how can he tell something like this to the other Avengers? It’s too personal, and it’s also way too difficult to understand. When the moment will come to face the Winter Soldier and kill him, Steve won’t be able to do that. Because somewhere inside that killing machine there’s still Bucky Barnes and Steve will never hurt him. The others will absolutely _not_ like it.

* * *

Natasha and Clint are digging with their hands through the rubbles, looking for the scepter. It’s important, essential, that they retrieve the artifact, yet they can’t seem to be able to find it. And it’s getting a little frustrating, especially since the Chitauri keep coming out of the portal by the hundreds.

“Look out” Erik Selvig shouts from above, and thanks to his warning they manage to dodge in time to avoid an attack.

The Chitauri who were targeting them crash on top of the rubbles, moving some of them out of the way. That’s when the Black Widow sees something shining under the pieces of broken building.

“There it is! The scepter!” she exclaims, pointing at the thing.

Clint is quick to scavenge in the ruins, holding the scepter in his hands a few seconds later. He holds it up over his head, smiling with relief.

“I got it. I got the scepter!” he tells for the entire team to know.

“Good. Close the portal.” is Captain America’s order.

“Yes Cap!” he replies.

Then he turns towards Nat, handing the artifact to her. His expression is serious and a little tense, making his friend worry a little over his wellbeing. After all he’d been controlled by Loki for some time, and it’s not been long since he came back to normal. Natasha is afraid he might slip back, or something.

“You should do it. Seriously, if I hold this thing too long, all I want to do with it is to stick it up Loki’s ass and see if I can make fireworks come out of his mouth. So you should close the portal.” Barton says in a professional tone, almost making Natasha laugh.

There is something with Clint that Agent Romanov can’t actually explain. Since the day he decided to spare her life, she’s always admired him, respected him. She always thought of him as a caring older brother, and she actually loves him as a brother. Natasha knows very well how to tell when he’s about to do something that might leave him scarred for a long time, and in that precise moment she realizes he might actually torture Loki for vengeance. A person with Black Widow’s past can easily torture someone and then get her beauty sleep at night. But Clint? He might get overwhelmed, compromising his ability to express love towards his wife and kids. And as a friend she can’t let this happen.

“Of course I’ll do it.” is all she says while taking the scepter away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter, and I hope you liked this one too. As I said before, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this story, so feedback is always appreciated.  
> I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again, since I'll be pretty busy during the next few weeks, but I've already started to write chapter 3 so I hope I'll have it done as soon as possible.


End file.
